Malaysia Masters: PV Sindhu loses to Tai Tzu in quarterfinals, registers 17th career defeat to her nemesis

Malaysia Masters: The star badminton player PV Sindhu lost to her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying, suffering yet another defeat in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament on Friday.

A week after getting defeated by the Chinese Taipei great at Malaysia Open, the two-time Olympic medallist Sindhu failed once again against the world no. 2. She lost the 55-minute game by 13-21 21-12 12-21.

It was Sindhu’s 17th career defeat to the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist. The last time Tzu Ying lost to Sindhu was in the 2019 World Championship in Basel.

Tzu Ying made her intentions clear from the start, as, after an initial close duel, she managed to pull away from 10-9 to jump to 15-9 and finally took lead in the match.

After the change of ends, Sindhu made a comeback and took 11-4 lead. She kept a firm grip on the rallies to roar back into the contest.

The Indian carried her momentum into the decider, leading 7-3 at one stage and for a moment it seemed, perhaps, she has cracked the Tzu Ying code but the tables were turned around, as Tai Tzu grabbed a two-point cushion at the final break.

It was one-way traffic after the interval as Sindhu’s unforced errors coupled with her rival’s brilliance saw the match tilt completely in favour of Tzu Ying, who zoomed to 19-11.

Another rally ended with the shuttle dropping right on the baseline as Tzu Ying held eight match points and converted it when Sindhu went to the net again. 

(Inputs from PTI)